Day 1193: The fear of God - Exodus 20 vs 18- 26

18-19 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

22-24 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25-26 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.” Exodus 20:18-26 English Standard Version.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. Thus Solomon wrote at the start of his book to teach his son the way he should follow. Then, at the end of Ecclesiastes, after he'd experimented with all the vain things life offers, he said: “Now all has been heard - here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) We see here that a proper fear of the Lord is pure, and leads to our eternal good. We see that all His rules are true, and completely righteous. They are more desirable than gold!

So verses 18-19 describe a good start for Israel. They literally trembled with fear, and were terrified. But what was Moses' response in verse 20?

“Do not fear.” He wasn't contradicting what Solomon and David would later say, rather he was making a distinction between fear that runs away from God, and fear that approaches God with great humility and reverence. He points out that God had shown them this display of His awesomeness so that they would not sin. Oh that, even today, we would have such humble reverence when we come before the Lord, and as we seek to make the gospel known to others. We read that “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” (Hebrews 11:7)

And so God began to teach Israel through the mediation of Moses, and give them commandments for their relationship with Himself. And uppermost of these was that they were not to make any gods of silver or gold to put alongside Him. They were to build simple altars of earth at places He would lead them to. And any altar of stone that was made, was to be simply put up without any tools wielded upon it. The mention of nakedness was perhaps a reminder of the innocence that was lost by Adam. The world was still under God's curse.

There are at least two lessons we can take to heart. The first is of our need of a mediator. Hebrews 3:1-3 says: “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses - as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself.” Praise God for our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Secondly, let us be careful of basing our hope of heaven on some experience in life where we “felt the fear of God”. The same Israelites who on that day trembled in fear, shortly thereafter built a calf of gold to worship. Our emotions are subject to change! We need to know God's great love if we are to truly walk in His ways. And His love comes from believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour. As an old hymn puts it “No condemnation now I dread, Jesus, and all in Him, is mine.” His perfect love casts out fear.